Fire Safety

The Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 updates fire services legislation. It gives effect to departmental proposals published in 2004 and follows UK developments enacted in 2004 and regulatory reform legislation enacted in 2005.

The legislation establishes a new body, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Services Board. It provides for the dissolution of its predecessor, the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland. The core functions include promoting fire safety, responding to fires, road-traffic accidents, and emergencies. It also covers various other functions, including assisting in emergencies arising from chemical escapes, flooding, and search and rescue incidents.

The Board has a broad range of general powers enabling it to carry out its functions. It may provide appropriate equipment, personnel, and appliances. It also has the authority to acquire and dispose of land and is empowered to delegate some of its functions.

The Department may specify services for which the Board may charge fees, and individuals may be subject to these charges. However, the Board is not empowered to charge for extinguishing fires or protecting life and property in the event of a fire within Northern Ireland.

Provisions allow the Board to utilize water for its purposes and to maintain fire hydrants, with offences related to the misuse of fire hydrants.

Fire and rescue officers have the necessary powers to undertake their functions. They may enter premises, close roads, or regulate traffic when necessary to combat fires, rescue people from road traffic incidents, and deal with other emergencies. They may also take steps to limit damage to property.

Fire and rescue officers are authorized to enter premises to obtain information for the purpose of discharging their functions and investigating the cause of fires. Failing to comply with their requirements or provide information or assistance is considered an offence.

Knowingly making a false alarm is also an offence.

Employers are obligated to ensure the safety of their employees regarding harm caused by fire in the workplace. Each employer must conduct a workplace assessment to identify fire-related risks and safety measures necessary to comply with this duty. They must also periodically review the fire safety assessment and take necessary steps.

Individuals who have control of relevant premises must assess fire risks and take necessary steps to ensure safety.

Persons with a tenancy obligation for premises maintenance, repair, or safety regarding harm must comply with the statutory obligation.

Individuals are obligated to implement fire safety measures based on risk assessments. These measures should consider technical progress, replacing dangerous equipment and materials, risk mitigation at the source, evaluating and rating unavoidable risks, avoiding avoidable risks, developing a comprehensive fire prevention policy, prioritizing collective fire safety measures over individual ones, and providing appropriate instructions to employees.

Employees have a duty to take reasonable care to prevent fire risks arising from their actions or omissions and to cooperate with their employers to meet safety obligations.

The Department may create regulations for implementing assessment and review duties and compliance with risk assessments and reviews. These regulations may specify factors to consider, require assessments and reviews before employing specific personnel, and mandate record-keeping in certain circumstances.

The Department may also establish fire safety regulations for relevant premises. These regulations can apply generally or to specific cases, imposing requirements on individuals, ensuring maintenance and obstruction-free means of escape, providing and maintaining firefighting and warning systems, internal construction and materials standards, enabling arrangements with other building owners and occupants, ensuring employees receive fire safety instruction or training, specifying attendant numbers in specific premises, record-keeping, and providing assistance or information for enforcement.

Fire safety regulations may apply  to premises maintenance, facilities, and equipment to enhance fire safety. These regulations may apply to common areas of private dwelling houses, including stairs, passages, gardens, outbuildings, or premises serving more than two premises.

If the application of any fire safety duties would hinder a person from performing operational duties, fire safety duties do not apply during this period. This applies to constables, armed forces members, emergency service personnel, or others prescribed by law.

The regulations apply to premises other than domestic premises, certain governmental buildings, farm and forestry buildings.

The Board is obligated to enforce fire safety duties while considering guidance provided by the Department. The Chief Fire and Rescue Officer may authorize fire officers to carry out functions under the legislation.

The Board may establish arrangements with the Health and Safety Executive for conducting some of its functions regarding its workplace. It may also establish arrangements with persons for carrying out its functions in specific workplaces.

Authorized officers may enter premises to inspect them, take necessary equipment, require facility, assistance, and information from persons on the premises, inspect documents and records, conduct inspections, measurements, and tests, and take samples.

If anything found on premises is likely to endanger persons in the event of a fire, it may be dismantled, and the item or substance may be taken possession of for examination and preservation as evidence for prosecution.

When authorized officers enter unoccupied relevant premises with temporarily absent occupiers, they must ensure the premises are left secured against unauthorized entry upon departure.

The Board may issue a prohibition notice to the occupier of premises where it believes the use of the premises poses or will pose a serious risk to persons due to difficulties with fire escape or other reasons.

The prohibition notice specifies the applicable provisions, identifies the issues, and directs that the premises cannot be used for the specified purpose until the issues are remedied. Before serving a prohibition notice regarding a house in multiple occupation, the Board should, if practicable, notify the Housing Executive of its intent to issue the notice.

An enforcement notice may be issued if the Board believes a person has failed to comply with specified fire safety duties. The notice outlines why the person has failed to fulfill their duty and requires the person to take specified action within a set period, usually 28 days.

Before serving an enforcement notice, the Board must consult with the District Council in the case of a workplace, the Health and Safety Executive, and any others whose consent is required due to statutory provisions.

After serving an enforcement notice, the Board may withdraw it or allow additional time.

The Board may issue an alterations notice when there would be a serious risk to persons regarding fire-related harm in the relevant premises. If there is no serious risk, but certain changes could cause such a risk, including changes in premises, services, fittings, equipment, quantities of dangerous substances, or use, an alterations notice may be required.

An alterations notice requires the responsible person to notify the Board of changes that could constitute a serious risk in the event of a fire. It may also require record-keeping, information sharing, copying assessments, and other specified actions in case of change notification.

If a person fails to comply with fire safety duties and cannot agree with the Board on the necessary steps, the matter may be referred to the Department for determination. The Department may appoint a person to make the determination, and regulations may provide for references and determinations.

Once a determination has been made, the Board may not serve an enforcement notice or include directions in such a notice that conflict with the determination unless the risk significantly increases due to a change.

Any person on whom a relevant notice has been served, including a prohibition, enforcement, or alterations notice, may appeal within 21 days to the County Court. The County Court may cancel, affirm, or vary the order. Generally, the notice’s operation is suspended until the appeal is withdrawn, except for a prohibition notice unless directed by the court.

Breach of the regulations constitutes an offence. In most cases, there is a provision for summary conviction with a fine up to the statutory maximum. In certain more serious cases, they may be tried on indictment with imprisonment of up to two years or any fine. Generally, it is a defence for the prosecution to prove the person took reasonable steps and exercised due diligence to avoid committing the offence. However, this does not apply to prohibition notices and certain other cases.

In the case of offences by companies, persons liable include directors and any other managing members. It is not a defence for an employer to attribute an act or omission of an employee. An employer may not charge or permit the charging of an employee in respect of anything done or provided in relation to fire safety duties.

Nothing in the legislation is to be construed as conferring a right of action or civil action other than proceedings for the recovery of a fine. A breach of a duty imposed on an employer that causes damage to an employee confers a right of action on that employee in civil proceedings.

The legislation binds the Crown to the full extent permitted by the constitutional laws of Northern Ireland. Contravention by the Crown does not make the Crown criminally liable. The High Court may, on the application of the Health and Safety Executive, declare unlawful any act or omission of the Crown that results in a contravention.

Fire safety measures are defined as measures to reduce the risk of fire in relevant premises, the risk of the spread of fire, risk in relation to means of escape, measures for securing means of escape’s availability, measures in relation to extinguishing fire, detecting and warning of fire, measures in relation to arrangements for action in case of fire, and other measures as prescribed.

The Department is responsible for preparing a document outlining the priorities and objectives of the Board in carrying out its functions. This document should include guidance, relationships, functions, and other matters deemed appropriate by the Department.

This document is to be reviewed and revised periodically. The Department must carry out its functions to promote public safety, the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Board, and the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness related to the Board’s functions.

It is an offence to assault, resist, or obstruct a fire or rescue officer in the execution of their duty or a person assisting them in the execution of their duty. If a person assaults, resists, obstructs, or impedes a person providing assistance to the Board under arrangements for carrying out a function conferred under arrangements, they are guilty of an offence.

This offence, upon conviction, may result in a fine of up to six months summarily or a statutory maximum fine, or on indictment, up to two years’ imprisonment or an unlimited fine.